De Lima received millions from Bilibid drug lords - Colangco

Sen. Leila De Lima received millions as "payola" from Bilibid drug lords when she was still justice secretary, inmate Herbert Colangco said.
In a four-page affidavit submitted to the Department of Justice (DOJ), the drug and robbery convict revealed that the Carcel Side, a coalition of prison gang members from Visayas and Mindanao which he leads, had given De Lima P3 million monthly, The STAR reported.

The money was a bribe to De Lima for their special privileges and the continuance of the drug trade inside the national penitentiary, Colangco reportedly said.

Approximately, he said the drug money that circulated inside the New Bilibid Prison upon De Lima's permission, before they were transferred to the custody of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), was P50 million per month.

Colangco also reportedly confessed that during De Lima's time, he was allowed to sell beer inside the NBP during special occasions. He earned P3 million per 300 boxes in each event as the price per can was over 10 folds.

De Lima's P1 million share from this business venture was either delivered by his courier, Rey, to the DOJ or picked up by the justice secretary's security aide, Joenel Sanchez, and her boyfriend, Ronnie Dayan, the inmate-musician stated in his notarized affidavit signed on September 1.

Current DOJ secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II confirmed to The STAR that Colangco and several other inmates would testify against De Lima in the house inquiry on the proliferation of illegal drugs at the Bilibid, which will start on Tuesday.

Some of the witnesses admitted in their respective affidavits that they collected drug money since 2013 to support De Lima's senatorial bid, the cabinet member reportedly said.